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Virginia class submarine control room11/25/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() The class incorporated features to better support special operations forces (SOF), including a reconfigurable torpedo room which can accommodate a large number of SOF personnel and all of their equipment for prolonged deployments.Īdditionally, the Virginia-class submarines replaced traditional periscopes with two photonics masts that host visible and infrared digital cameras atop telescoping arms. The Virginia class ushered in several innovations that significantly enhanced the Navy’s undersea warfighting capabilities. The 377-foot-long USS Virginia was commissioned in 2004 as the first in its class, following 62 smaller 362-foot-long Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarines commissioned between 19. As the first of 21 state-of-the-art fast-attack submarines – and counting – it’s an honor for all of us to play a part in the next chapter of her long and decorated life.” Feldon and his crew are ready and eager to execute any mission our nation requires. “We’re excited to welcome USS Virginia back to the Submarine Capital of the World, where she’ll bring her stealth and firepower back to the tip of the spear,” said Capt. Feldon, will transition from operating under the shipyard-based Submarine Squadron (SUBRON) 2 to the Groton-based SUBRON 4. With its homeport change, Virginia, which is commanded by Cmdr. The move marked completion of USS Virginia’s scheduled maintenance and upgrades at the Kittery, Maine, shipyard and return to the operational fleet. At a legislative update last week, Electric Boat president Kevin Graney told members of Congress the company had set an ambitious goal to recruit 5700 employees over the next two years.Groton, Connecticut – USS Virginia (SSN 774), the first in the newest class of fast-attack submarines, completed a change of homeports from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, on Wednesday, April 12. The companies are now trying to do exactly that. We are not moving our shipyards any time soon.” We have to recruit in our communities right here. “And we must recruit those we may not be used to recruiting ― single mums and AAU coaches who we need to tell kids about career opportunities. Indeed, in a dramatic intervention last December, two US Senators, Jack Reed and James Inhofe, wrote to Biden explicitly warning against any plan to sell or transfer Virginia-class submarines to Australia before the US Navy has met its current requirement.Īt a workshop in Connecticut in January, Adele Ratcliff, director of the US Defence Department’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program, also highlighted the challenge, noting that while recent funding increases had helped address the “industrial atrophy” that set in during the post-Cold War era, workforce development an ongoing issue. Now you’ve got to convince people to join the Navy, then convince those people to be in a submarine force, then find people who can be trained as nuclear engineers – and that’s even before you get to the industry integration of building and maintenance.”īut the industry has had difficulties with COVID-era supply chain bottlenecks and workforce shortages in recent years, fuelling fears the AUKUS pact could overstretch the industrial capacity of US shipyards “to breaking point”. “We’re already having some difficulties recruiting to targets in the Australian Defence Force. “It’s one of the biggest challenges with AUKUS,” says Mark Watson, the Washington director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Given the US has struggled to reach the Navy’s target of building two a year, it begs the question: how will Australia fare when it comes to finding its own AUKUS-ready nuclear workforce? According to the latest Congressional research, a single boat, which has a shelf life of about 33 years, can cost about $US3.6 billion ($5.5 billion) to build and requires 9 million labour hours and thousands of suppliers. But for all the benefits, these nuclear submarines are extremely difficult to make – and they’re certainly not cheap.
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